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offgrid View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: 3.5 Ecoboost
    Posted: 02 Dec 2019 at 5:05am
Originally posted by GlueGuy

One of the questions is the level of complexity. In my mind a V8 is a lot more complicated than a V6, or even a V6 with a turbocharger (or even 2 turbochargers). A V8 has 33% more moving (and reciprocating) parts than a V6. A turbo is really only a couple more moving parts, and they're not reciprocating. Turbochargers have been well proven now for more than a couple of decades, and 18-wheelers almost all use turbo'd diesel engines.


Now, if you REALLY want a tow vehicle with minimal moving parts, plunk down your deposit for Elon Musk's Cybertruck. Telsas are claimed to have only about 17 moving parts total. And with up to a 14000 lb tow capacity it should pull an RPod around just fine. 

What we will need is for FR to introduce a new RPod Mad Max version to match the Cybertruck.  Stainless steel sheets with sharp angles instead of fiberglass curves. LOL

Joking aside, most mfrs have announced release of electric trucks within the next couple of years. They will be powerful, fast, efficient, and reliable. A big advantage for camping will be that they will have options for built in inverters so you can run equipment off their huge battery packs. The days of worrying about battery capacity in your travel trailer or lugging generators around will soon be over. If I was in the market for a new pickup in the next couple of years (I'm not) I would wait and see what the e-trucks are like before buying. 


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Dec 2019 at 8:44am
Originally posted by offgrid

Now, if you REALLY want a tow vehicle with minimal moving parts, plunk down your deposit for Elon Musk's Cybertruck. Telsas are claimed to have only about 17 moving parts total. And with up to a 14000 lb tow capacity it should pull an RPod around just fine. 

What we will need is for FR to introduce a new RPod Mad Max version to match the Cybertruck.  Stainless steel sheets with sharp angles instead of fiberglass curves. LOL

Joking aside, most mfrs have announced release of electric trucks within the next couple of years. They will be powerful, fast, efficient, and reliable. A big advantage for camping will be that they will have options for built in inverters so you can run equipment off their huge battery packs. The days of worrying about battery capacity in your travel trailer or lugging generators around will soon be over. If I was in the market for a new pickup in the next couple of years (I'm not) I would wait and see what the e-trucks are like before buying.
I don't know that an EV is the way to go yet. You might want to watch this little video about an EV's Achilles Heel.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Dec 2019 at 9:16am
I just don't get it. During the summer when we get hot spells, they beg people to conserve electricity, turn down a/c, etc.. Why do we think it's a good idea to ADD hundreds of thousands of electric cars (now trucks too) to the grid? 
I also have seen an effort to add servo motors to campers to assist in towing, making the tow vehicle need  less towing power. I'm sure this is a few years away, but it's no different than robotics technology that's in use already. 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Dec 2019 at 1:28pm
Electric cars work well because there is a very small load.

Electric trucks when pulling a load (like a camper) will see published range cut in half. 

And where do you charge out in the boonies? How long will you sit there watching the meter? How about when its 10 degrees and a snow storm is brewing on the horizon, your vehicle is gonna take all day to charge in the cold weather and your camper had to be disconnected so you can fit in the space?

No thanks. 


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Dec 2019 at 2:33pm
+1, not my cup of tea either.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Dec 2019 at 5:17pm
Originally posted by podwerkz

Electric cars work well because there is a very small load.
EVs work well because of their insane efficiency vs ICE cars. Most of the EVs I know of get > 100 MPGe, and some models of the Tesla model 3 is just edging over 140 MPGe. It's not so much that the load is small (those batteries make them HEAVY), as it is low aerodynamic drag and super-efficient motors.

Originally posted by podwerkz

Electric trucks when pulling a load (like a camper) will see published range cut in half.
It's worse than that. You should look at the Achilles Heel video linked above. It's kind of sobering regarding towing almost anything.


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Dec 2019 at 6:59pm
The EV Achille's heel is sobering at best.  My son just sold his Tesla.  He lives in Grand Rapids, MI and enjoyed it during the summer months as he was able to get his 300 miles out of a charge.  Also charging stations are plentiful in Michigan, at least in the lower peninsula so travel was easy for him.  Now, the reason for selling:  winter weather cut his distance to 180 miles at best, the Tesla is terrible in snow, even with a good snow tires on it - he found himself wandering all over the road - not safe for him or his kids.  He told me if he lived in a place where there was no snow or cold weather below 40, he would have kept it, for all the cars he has had - this was his favorite, until the reality of Michigan winter slapped him in the face, and winter has only begun in this part of the world.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Dec 2019 at 7:44pm
This makes the extreme popularity of Teslas in Scandahoovian countries all the more puzzling. We know it gets cold up there, so what are they doing differently?
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Dec 2019 at 4:00am
Originally posted by GlueGuy

This makes the extreme popularity of Teslas in Scandahoovian countries all the more puzzling. We know it gets cold up there, so what are they doing differently?


Ahhh, maybe it is the government over reach and incentives to have a Tesla.  Due to efficient electric production via fjiords and rivers the price of electricity is ridiculously low.  I don't know the price of petrol over there but the last time I was in Europe on a missions mission it was $ 1.65/liter in Albania and Kosova and that was during the years of 1999 and 2000.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Dec 2019 at 5:43am
Oh ho, guess I started something, Tongue

Re range: range on ICE's gets cut pretty much in half too when towing (mine does for sure) so that is not special with EV's. Whether its a problem or not depends on the original range and on the availability of charging stations. The longest range electric trucks are supposed to go about 400-500 miles, so that should be pretty comparable to most ICE's towing.

Don't know anything about the range of EV's in very cold climates so can't comment on that. A 4wd one should be fine in the snow, like any other 4wd with traction control. 

Re why the grid can handle a conversion to electric, it depends when you charge it. Grid loading is always lowest between late evening and early morning so there is essentially always power to spare then. Most of the time EV's are charged at home so that timing is pretty easy to accomplish. 

Norway is the poster child for EV's with far more percentage wise on the road than anywhere else. Their electricity is hydro and they have plenty of it. They don't tax EV's so that acts like an incentive because ICE vehicles are taxed like crazy as they are throughout all of Europe.  The EV's get use of special highway lanes as well. Mostly they're using them for commuting and have second ICE vehicles for longer drives. 

Adoption of E trucks will depend on price, range, and availability of charging stations. We'll see how that plays out over the next few years. In the meantime the cars are pretty much there already for lots of people, certainly they are fine for most normal daily commuting patterns. 

I plan to swap my Prius out for a Chevy Bolt but will keep my Highlander for towing and long distance driving purposes, for now. 








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